Bastian

Batian’s novel is quitly a dark novel. So the publisher tried to do censorship on the webtoon, but the artist didn’t want to do this and decided to stay loyal to the original work. And also some readers bullied the artist, and due to these things, the series got canceled. I am kinda sad. This novel is not for everyone. I even decided to read it because of the mature tag. There are a lot of manga or novels about couples teasing each other in lovely ways and hanging around happily; even their fights are not a big deal. But in Bastian… Bastian has a personalproblem with his father and wants revenge on him, so he tries to close the social difference between the high class and commoners. Odette is the daughter of an exiled princess and a gambler-addicted, alcoholic father. Due to some circumstances, the emperor arranges a marital contract for them, and their story begins like this. Some miscalculated things occur in Bastian’s path of revenge, so unfortunately a lot of abusive things happen. I can understand why people hate Bastian; all that he did is unforgivable. Even though those abusive things happen, worse things continue to occur. After some point, even you start to feel bad for Bastian. For me, Bastian is a well-written male character, even though of the terrible things he did. That doesn’t mean I condone these things, but thinking about growing up in a “hell house,” living only for revenge, and being forced into marriage by the emperor, it’s understandable why Bastian was nasty to Odette. The webtoon covers Bastian’s nasty parts, not the abusive parts. While reading the webtoon, I didn’t get angry with Bastian. I really liked him-he was nasty and sometimes did stupid things, but thinking about being forced into a marriage you don’t want, his behavior is understandable. All the hate toward Bastian comes from novel readers. If you want to read only the webtoon, don’t pay attention to those hate comments. But after the canceled part of the webtoon, depressing things start, and if you continue the story as a novel, keep in mind that a lot of tragic things happen. That’s why readers like me prefer this kind of story. We read this kind of romance because of the tragic elements. Sometimes you don’t want to read pink, happy stories. Even at some points in the story, you feel sorry for Bastian. I really like this conflict; this character sometimes shocks you with the bad things he does, and sometimes you feel sorry for him. I wish the webtoon had covered this story fully without censorship, but unfortunately, it won’t happen. If you’re interested in tragic-dark love stories, I recommend this series.